Go Tell The Spartans

Political Mavens ^ | 24 March 2007 | Andrew Klavan

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

By now, dozens of critics have weighed in on the massive box office success of 300, but not one I’ve read has figured out the reason for it. I have: it’s a terrific picture, one of the best in years. When I compare it to the movies that were nominated for Best Picture Oscars last year, it makes them seem to be exactly what they were: watered-down warm milk for liberal baby boomers who want to close the curtains on World War III, and snuggle down under their tie-dyed covers for a long winter’s nap full of tangerine dreams.

They are a weary failure of a generation. Like the British Edwardians before them, they could not live up to the achievements of their elders. So they invented a new set of rules, rules that sounded daring and dangerous and radical, but are in fact puerile, safe and anesthetic. Does western civilization require defense and sacrifice? Well, then ho, ho, ho, western civ has got to go. Does political freedom require responsibility and self-discipline? Well, then we’ll redefine freedom as individual licentiousness. Do other, lesser cultures want to destroy us? Well, then, we’ll join them in blaming America and avoid any unpleasantness. In short, the baby boomers’ leftist philosophy amounts to nothing more than an elaborate rationalization of their own cowardice and a way to dull the pain of the resultant self-disgust.....

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Does political freedom require responsibility and self-discipline? Well, then we’ll redefine freedom as individual licentiousness.

That's exactly what they've done! And this could apply to the libertarians, too.

[Red6]

300 was awesome!

[Cicero]

Yes, and the next bit, too: Their licentious behavior makes them feel guilty, but they can't admit it, so they take out their guilt on us.

[Oberon]

And this could apply to the libertarians, too.

Not the sensible ones.

[The Pack Knight]

Does political freedom require responsibility and self-discipline? Well, then we’ll redefine freedom as individual licentiousness.

That's exactly what they've done! And this could apply to the libertarians, too.

Well, I don't know about all that. I carry no water for the Libertarian Party, but I certainly don't think personal responsibility and self-discipline are antithetical to the libertarian philosophy. In fact, I would argue they're central to it. Socialized responsibility and state-imposed discipline are another story, however.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Many, if not most, of the philosophical libertarians I've known were not real big on consistent self-control. Maybe my personal experiences with them have coloured my overall perception of the philosophy, however.

[EzOnTheEyez]

Hey now, I loved Little Miss Sunshine! I wanted it to win Best Picture. I was just never that impressed with The Departed. Oh well.

That said, I loved 300. It was awesome. :-)

[Jack Black]

Does political freedom require responsibility and self-discipline? Well, then we’ll redefine freedom as individual licentiousness.

That's exactly what they've done! And this could apply to the libertarians, too.

Funny, none of the libertarians I know are libertine! One is a complete non-drinker, non-drug user, fellow who is a certified NRA gun instructor when not working his day job as an engineer. Another is a computer guy with a family and a wife of 20+ years.

I think the 'pot smoking libertarian' is a myth, at least in my experience.

[henkster]

OK, I'll be a parrot:

300 was awesome. All the way through I kept thinking: "I can see why the libs and the Iranians hate this movie."

But it will never get a whiff of the Oscars; it fails far too many of the PC litmus tests mandatory for Oscar consideration.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

You mean I have to stop referring to the Libertarians as the "Pot and Porn Party"? ;)

[RonF]

The Departed was a good 3/4 of a movie, but I thought the ending was too contrived - it seemed mostly a vehicle to blow a bunch of people away on-screen and was a complete deviation from what was a pretty good plot up to then.

[lugsoul]

It is a comic book writ large.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***They are a weary failure of a generation.***

They are the "Better Red than dead" and "Peace at any price" generation.

[Sherman Logan]

Jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, sensible Libertarians (party members, that is).

LOL

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Libertarians are not licentious because they believe in freedom. We just believe is staying out of other people's business. More importantly, we believe in keeping government out of people's pockets and bedrooms.

[SauronOfMordor]

This Libertarian is a non-smoker, non-drinker, non-drug-user, husband and father. I just happen to think that government tends to make a mess of most things it tries to do outside of its core function of providing a safe environment where people can live, work, and raise a family

Regarding 300, I saw it twice (regular and then IMAX), and the major audience for it seems to be guys having a "guys night out). It's a classic tale that Hollywood liberals mostly disdain: men defending what's important to them against overwhelming odds

[Junior]

And this could apply to the libertarians, too.

Not wanting the government to dictate what we do with our own bodies does not equate to licentiousness. It has to do with who owns us -- the government or us.

It is a shallow and thoughtless person who mistakes the message of libertarianism for libertinism.

[The Blitherer]

I think the 'pot smoking libertarian' is a myth, at least in my experience.

You obviously haven't been on a college campus in a while. :-)

Actually, it's probably not fair to count most college libertarians as true "libertarians".

[nonsporting]

So they invented a new set of rules, rules that sounded daring and dangerous and radical, but are in fact puerile, safe and anesthetic.

Rules...like gun control. Ban guns and the nasty guns go away. Well, no. Those safe and anesthetic gun-free zones are a tremendrous draw for armed crazies. (The examples are legion.)

Similarly, a spirtually disarmed bunch of tangerine dreamers are in for many rude awakenings. Our modern day Persians want us dead to fulfill their messianic prophesies. Nothing will disuade them except death.

[SauronOfMordor]

But it will never get a whiff of the Oscars; it fails far too many of the PC litmus tests mandatory for Oscar consideration

Let me list a few:

1. Disdainfully referring to Athenians as "boy lovers" (and by implication heaping disdain on the swishy politician)
2. Having a swishy politician be a treasonous, lying, two-faced villain
3. Having the heros being manly, hetero, European males
4. Having the enemy being non-White, non-Europeans, who get their butts kicked even though they vastly outnumber the good guys
5. Having the head bad guy being a body-pierced butch queen
6. Having a "differently abled" character being as deformed on the inside as he was on the outside

I could go on...